The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

 Oct 22nd- A few of my favorite things...

~Melting wax in a double boiler

~Collecting a few favorite leaves

~Preserving the leafy color in wax as fall's vibrancy begins to wane

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

July 14th- A few of my favorite things...
~White fluffy clouds that get painted gold, then...
~Disappear...only to have flaming orange ones take their place with...
~Watercolor like brushstrokes and swirls that wax and wane as the light fades for the night

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

Dec 21st- A few of my favorite things...
~Learning all about beekeeping at the Community Library of Dewitt and Jamesville today
~Learning how to safely get the honey from the hive (and imagine that your are doing it too)
~To be turned (literally) into a tasty treat

The beekeeper Emily and her son demonstrating the frames 

that go in the supers (the green box) that get stacked 

as the bees make more honey through the summer

The frames hang inside the supers for the bees to make honey

Smokers are used sparingly to calm the bees

Bee suits protect the keepers from stings. 

They usually work in pairs to make sure they are suited up correctly.

The kids got to try it on for size

Outside they demonstrated lighting the smoker and what they burn in it

A well-lit smoker will last for hours...a poorly lit one for a few minutes

 

Bellows push puffs of smoke out for the beekeepers

 

Bees make wax to seal honey in the frames. 

The wax can be melted down and purified

to make beeswax to be used for a variety of things

After the wax is removed, the frames are placed in the extractor.

Then it is hand-cranked, spinning the honey out of the frames

After filtering your have lovely, tasty raw honey